"We have come on in leaps and bounds" - Tipperary football on cusp of promotion

Speaking after yesterday's game against Carlow, Tipperary manager David Power was pleased overall that his side had come through in delivering the two points necessary to keep promotion on track and an immediate return to Division 3 tantalisingly close after just one season in the bottom rung of the National Football League.

There were many aspects of the performance that pleased him but he also had some concerns, especially with a similar hurdle to overcome against London next weekend in the league’s final round of games.

“The first 20 minutes were excellent but the last 15 of the first half I felt we were poor when we left them back into it because of our own sloppy play,” he began. “After that I thought the second half was very good, very controlled and we looked like a team that are very near to promotion.”

In that period before half-time, Carlow enjoyed the greater share of possession and David Power wasn’t happy with that aspect of the day. While Tipp conceded only one point from play in the opening half they also coughed up four scorable frees.

“Some of their frees came from unforced turnovers and that is what frustrated me a lot. We were letting Carlow stay in the game instead of seeing it out. But, in fairness to them, they were always going to get a spell when they have some good players. I thought that Jordan Morrissey was excellent and he would make most teams. He’s very good, plays with DCU, and we know his ability and form from Paddy Christie (Tipp selector),” added the Tipperary manager.

Having led by just three points at the interval, Tipp kicked on more in the second half, helped by an early goal from Mikey O’Shea within two minutes of the re-start.

“The second half was really good for us. I thought the second goal (by Kevin Fahey) was a really good team goal. It’s something that we have been working on and to see it happening out there was great,” appreciated the manager.

“In the first half we were too deep and we were letting Carlow into our 45 too easily. However, in the second half we were tackling between our 45 and 65 lines and putting more pressure on them. We were forcing Carlow to kick and we were able to turn them over more as a result,” he added.

Tipperary footballers win again to set up promotion clash next weekend with London

The win against Carlow on Sunday was quite different to the Cavan victory the previous weekend. Then Tipperary were away, unfancied, and needed little motivation in taking on a previously unbeaten side on their own patch. Against Carlow the pressure was of a different sort.

“In many ways this was a bigger game than last week,” said the Tipperary boss, now in his third league campaign with his native county. “There was an expectation on us winning today and we really responded well to that pressure. To actually win this type of game and to clock up 2-16 while doing so, that’s a great score. We started very well, let Carlow back into it before half time but we honed in on that at the break. We said we cannot let all our good work be undone. Had we gone out with the wrong attitude for the second half we could have been caught. We made sure that didn’t happen,” the manager added.

There was a worrying downside to the game with a couple of injuries but David Power was happy to see the new players expressing themselves well.

“We were after losing Conor (Sweeney) and Robbie (Kiely) had gone off and also Bill (Maher) couldn’t start today because of his quad injury. All of a sudden we are down a couple of our more experienced players on the field but we had our  u21s finishing the game today and it was great to see that happening,” he added.

Tipp are now on the verge of a return to Division 3, and if they succeed then the year in Division 4 might not have been such a backward step for Tipperary football after all.

“People say it is a disaster going to Division 4, but you have to prove you shouldn’t be in Division 4,” he pointed. “As every week goes on we are proving that and we have one more week to go. This week we will focus on London. We will focus on their key players as we did with Carlow and we will show them the respect they deserve. We have to make sure we are ready for their key players. We also have to improve on our kickouts and unforced errors and turnovers. If we can tidy up all those things we can help make the game more comfortable for ourselves,” cautioned the Tipperary boss.

Conor Sweeney had to come off before half-time against Carlow and it will be an anxious wait now to see if the Ballyporeen man is available for London.

“Conor has a calf injury and we have to be careful with it. It’s too early to say whether he will be right for next week. We have been lucky throughout the league with injuries but we are now picking up a few knocks. Conor has been a great leader throughout, talk about having the right leader for all these young lads and he is definitely the leader they need,” added the manager in praise of his team captain.

So on to next weekend and the visit of London, three times winners in this campaign, who also gave Cavan a close run in Ruislip on Sunday last.

“Hopefully we can have a couple of those key players back for London. We have to be patient and the big thing, the only thing, next weekend is getting the two points, even if it is only a one-point winning margin, that will do. We are glad to have this opportunity now, especially after where we were after the Leitrim game. We have come on in leaps and bounds since then and hopefully we can finish the job next weekend,” concluded the Tipp manager.